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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Tuesday - August 08, 2006

From: Palm Coast, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Care for non-native Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I was given a desert rose and i'm looking for general information about planting, watering, how much sun it needs etc. I hope you can help. Thanks

ANSWER:

Desert rose (Adenium obesum) is a native of Africa introduced to North America. Since our focus and expertise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is with plants native to North America, it isn't really in our purview; however, I can guide you to several sites with information on its care:
1) from mgonline.com
2) University of Oklahoma Department of Botany Plant of the Week
3) from baobabs.com
 

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